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UkrainePoland / Bielawa / The Town Square
About Poland
Poland (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska), is a country in Eastern Europe. Poland can also be considered part of Eastern, and Northern Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine and Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 km² (120,728 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and 5th in Europe. Poland's population is over 38.5 million people, concentrated mainly in urban areas.
The first Polish state was baptized in 966, within territory similar to the present boundaries of Poland. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth collapsed in 1795. Poland regained its independence in 1918 after World War I but lost it again in World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, emerging several years later as a communist country within the Eastern Bloc under the control of the Soviet Union. In 1989, communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is informally known as the "Third Polish Republic." Poland is the 33rd most populous country in the world. Poland is a unitary state made up of sixteen voivodeships (Polish: województwo). Poland is also a member of NATO, OECD and the EU.
Poland’s territory extends across five geographical regions. In the northwest is the Baltic seacoast, which extends from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdansk. This coast is marked by several spits, coastal lakes (former bays that have been cut off from the sea), and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the Szczecin Lagoon, the Bay of Puck, and the Vistula Lagoon. The centre and parts of the north lie within the Northern European Lowlands. Rising gently above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising the four hilly districts of moraines and moraine-dammed lakes formed during and after the Pleistocene ice age. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the Masurian Lake District. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. South of the Northern European Lowlands lie the regions of Silesia and Masovia, which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south lies the Polish mountain region, including the Sudetes, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Carpathian Mountains, including the Beskids. The highest part of the Carpathians is the Tatra Mountains, along Poland’s southern border.
The major historical regions of Poland include Pomerania, Greater Poland, Silesia, Lesser Poland, Masovia, Warmia, Masuria, and Podlachia.
About Bielawa
Bielawa German: Langenbielau) is a town in south-western Poland with 32 652 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Wałbrzych Voivodeship (1975-1998).
Bielawa is a charming town with the population of 32,652 (2006) inhabitants, most beautifully located in the central part of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It stretches along the Bielawica stream and covers over 36 sq km. The location in the neighbourhood of the Sowie Mountains is the fundamental advantage of the town.
Bielawa lies at the height ranging from 280 to 345 m above sea level. The Sowie Mountains are one of the most captivating nooks of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship; the four main tourist trails crossing, e.g. the covering 80 square kilometre Scenic Park of the Sowie Mountains, numerous ski lifts and cycling trails make the area outstandingly attractive for all advanced and beginner tourists.
Bielawa offers also interesting architectural objects, e.g. the 19th-century Neo-Gothic church of the Assumption with a 101 m tall tower (the third tallest in Poland), the late-Renaissance palace originally built as a fortified manor house, the Corpus Christi church erected in 1743, Baroque houses from the 18th century, converted in the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. Two medieval penitential crosses are among other architectural monuments of Bielawa.